Jar holder



Oct. 12, 1937. R. s. KELLOGG J AR HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet, l

Filed Jan. 26, 1937 IIM Get. 12, 1937. R. s. KELLOGG JAR HOLDER Filed Jan. -2e, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g wkm, B.S. EeZZ Patented Oct. 12, 1937 UNITED smrss ayest tries JAR HOLDER 7 er S. Kellogg, Granite Falls, Wash. Application January 26, 1937, Serial No. 122,448 6 Claims. (01. 226-429) This invention relates to means for holding jars in 'a fixed position while jar caps, such as the caps on ordinary Mason jars are applied tothe jar or removed therefrom, or for use under like circumstances.

When preserving or canningis being done and jars having screw or other caps are used, it is plate and an upp difficult for the person serving to holda hot doing the canning or prejar either for the purpose of applying the-cap thereto or removing the cap therefrom, so that it is often the case that the jar is not properly capped or the cap screwed home and, as a consequence, the matter in the jar becomes spoiled. It is further difiicult to invert a hot jar to discover if the jar has been properly sealed.

With these difficulties in mind, the object of the present invention is to providemeans whereby a jar may be held. rigidly in place either while it is being filled and then while the cap is being applied, or when the cap is being removed.

A further object is to provide means wherebya jar held in place upon my device may be inverted so as to discover whether the jar has been properly sealed'without the necessity of handling the hot jar.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character which is very simple, can be easily applied and cheaply made, and has been found of great convenience.

My'invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved jar holder.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary enlarged section on the line 2 2 of F'gure 1 and showing a jar in place within the holder.

Figure 3 is a detailed section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, showing the guides for a clamp shank.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the holder but with the top plate removed.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the holder.

Figure 6 is a detailed section on the line 6--t of Figure 1 to show the bearing for the drum shaft.

Referring to these drawings, I ll designates a base which may be of wood or any other suitable material, and disposed upon this. base is a casing, preferably metallic, comprising a bottom plate 12. Disposed between the'base and the plate H are the rails [13 to which the bottom plate of the casing is attached by meansof screws shown in dotted lines in Figure'2. Extending between the bottom plate and the top plate arethe side walls M. The top and bottom plates are each formed with a central opening l5 which has a diameter equal to the diameter of the largest jar A which is likely to be used. The casing formed of the top plate, the. bottom plate and the side walls M is attached to the rails it by screws and the rails are engaged with the base it by means of hinges it. These hinges permit the rails with the casing to be turned through an arc of 180. Extending upward from the base I!) on each side of the casing are braces it which are not attached to the casing but prevent undue strain being applied to the hinges it when the structure is in the position used for applying a cap or removing a cap from a jar, as will appear more fully hereinafter.

Shown as attached to the top plate l2 are a plurality of pairs of radially disposed guides designated it. Each of these guides is provided with a pair of lugs l9, which in one embodiment of my invention extend through slits formed in the upper plate l2, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. Any other suitable means for holding these guides dB in place may be used. The guides [8 extend radially from the opening l5, and disposed between each pair of guides is the shank 20 of a jar clamp 21. Each jar clamp is arcuate in form and each clamp may be formed upon its inner or concave face with a longitudinally extending groove within which a rubber filler 22 may be placed. The outer end of the shank 20 of each clamp is provided with a grooved roller 23. Springs 26 are engaged with the outer ends of the shanks of the clamps and with the outer walls it of the casing and act to draw the clamps outward.

For the purpose of forcing the clamps inward against a jar or like container disposed within the opening 85, I provide a cable 225 which may be of any suitable flexible material such as a small wire cable, this cable being attached at one end to a post or other anchoring member 26.

From this anchoring member 26, the cable passes successively over the several grooved rollers 23, so that the cable extends around four sides of a square. The cable at its end remote from the anchoring member 26 passes over a guide roller 27 and then extends to a drum 28 mounted upon a drum shaft 29. This shaft at one end is mounted in a ing upward from the bottom plate and engaged with the top plate by a screw or like means so as to hold the bearing post rigidly in place. The other end of the shaft extends through the side wall i l and is provided with a ratchet wheel 3! bearing post 3t extendrection, the cable 25 will and a crank handle 32 whereby the shaft 28 may be rotated in a direction to wind up the cable 25 upon the drum 28. Coacting with the ratchet wheel is a pawl 33. It will be obvious now that when the crank handle 32 is rotated in one dibe wound upon the drum and as it is wound, it will gradually force the clamping members radially inward against a jar A disposed within the opening i5, as shown in Figure 2. The pawl 33 will hold the shaft 29 from any reverse movement and thus the jar may be rigidly clamped within the opening l5, it only being necessary to release the pawl 33 in order to release the clamps whereupon the springs 24 will urge the clamps outward away from the jaw. The braces ll act to take any strain off the hinges l6 when the shaft is being rotated to wind up the cable and force the jar clamping members inward against the jar and also act to take off any strain from the casing formed with the plates H and i2 when the jar' cap is being screwed on or screwed off.

'It will be seen that with this device a jar or like container which is too hot to hold in the hand while applying a jar cap, inserted within the opening it, clamped rigidly in place and then the jar cap may be put on and screwed home tightly without the operator having to touch the jar with her hands and, therefore, with no danger of being burned. By reason of the fact that the jar is held rigidly in place without having to be held by the operators hand, it is obvious that the jar cap may be screwed tightly home. Thus a jar may be inserted within the opening i5 iilled with fruit or vegetables in a highly heated condition and then closed tightly without danger of the operators hands being burned or the jar being improperly closed. Of course, the base should be engaged with a table or other support and for this purpose, ordinary clamps may be used or the base may be permanently engaged with a table.

It is the usual practice to invert jars after they have been filled and the cap screwed in place so as to be sure that the cap is tightly down and that the seal is thoroughly efiicient. To this end, the casing formed of the upper and lower plates is adapted to be rotated upon the hinges l6 to thus invert the jar. It will be seen that this requires no touching or holding of the jar by the bare hands. The jar is clamped within the jar holding means by the clamps 2! so that it cannot slip and then after the cap is applied, the jar holder is rotated upon its base to carry the jar to an inverted position and thus test it, the holder is then returned to its normal position, and the jar is released and may be removed therefrom for further treatment. a

It will be seen that with my structure all of the clamps are subjected to the same pressure, so that there is no danger of breaking the jar and yet the jar is securely "clamped in place. The rubber inserts 22 cushion this pressure against the jar, and furthermore, there is a certain yield in the cable which will prevent the jars from being crushed or broken. A device of this kind permits jars to be very conveniently and readily 'filled, capped and inverted without the necessity of touching the jar with the bare hands and without any danger of burning the hands.

t is obvious that many minor changes might be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

may be readily What is claimed is:

1. A jar holder of the character described, comprising a base, a jar receiving element mounted upon the base and having an opening into which the jar may be inserted, the element being operatively hinged to the base for movement in a vertical plane through an arc of approximately and jar clamping devices mounted upon said element and radially movable toward or from the center of said opening.

2. A jar holder of the character described, comprising a base, a jar receiving element mounted upon the base and having an opening into which the jar may be inserted, the element being hinged to the base for movement through an arc of approximately 180, a plurality of jar clamps disposed equi-distantly around the opening and having radially extending shanks carrying rollers at their outer ends, springs urging said clamps outward away from the opening, a cable trained over all of said rollers, the cable being anchored at one end, a drum upon which the cable is wrapped and disposed adjacent the anchored end of the cable, and manually operable means for rotating said drum to wind up the cable thereon and draw the clamps inward against the jar including means for releasably holding said drum from reverse rotation.

3. A jar holder of the character described, comprising a base, a casing hingedly mounted upon the base and having an inner plate and an outer plate in spaced relation to each other, the outer plate having an opening for the reception of a jar, a plurality of arcuate clamps disposed within the casing equi-distantly around the opening, each clamp having a yielding jar engaging face, manually operable means carried by the casing for forcing all of said clamps inward toward the center of said opening, releasable means for holding said clamps against outward movement, and springs for retracting the clamps.

4. A jar holder of the character described, comprising a base, a casing hingedly mounted upon the base and having an inner plate and an outer plate in spaced relation to each other, the outer plate having an opening for the reception of a jar, a plurality of arcuate clamps disposed within the casing equi-distantly around the opening, each clamp having a yielding jar engaging face, shanks extending radially from the arcuate clamps, guides carried by the casing and associated with said shanks, rollers carried by the outer ends of the shanks, a cable anchored at one end and extendng from the anchored end over the several rollers, a shaft extending through the outer wall of the casing and carrying a drum, the drum being disposed adjacent to the anchored end of the cable and the cable being attached to the drum, a crank handle on the exterior end of the shaft whereby it may be rotated to tighten up the cable and force the clamps inward, and releasable means for holding the shaft from reverse rotation, and springs acting to retract the clamps. a

5. A jar holder of the character described, including a base, a casing hinged to the base and comprising an inner plate and an outer plate spaced therefrom, braces extending upward from the base and engaging the sides of the casing when the casing is disposed in parallel relation with the base, the outer wall of the casing having an opening for the reception of a jar, a plurality of arcuate jar engaging clamps disposed equidistantly around the central opening and having radial shanks, guides attached to the outer wall of the casing and within which said shanks operate, manually operable means for forcing all of said shanks inward simultaneously and evenly and including a handle on the exterior of the casing, and means for releasably holding the handle against reverse movement.

6. A jar holder of the character described, comprising a base, a casing mounted upon the base and having an opening extending entirely through it through which a jar may be inserted to rest upon the base, the casing being operatively hinged upon the base for movement in a vertical plane through an arc of approximately 180, a plurality of radially movable clamps housed within the casing, the clamps being disposed equi-distantly around the opening, and manually operable means for uniformly forcing all of the jar clamps in- Ward into engagement with the jar in said opening and holding the clamps in operative engagement with the jar, the holding means being releasable.

ROGER S. KELLOGG. 

